Meringues with lemon curd cream and berries

Ingredients

For the topping

• Mixed berries (raspberries, small strawberries, loganberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, whatever you have to hand. The quantity doesn't matter too much, just use your judgement)
• 200g mascarpone
• 175g crème fraiche
• Lemon curd

For the meringues

• 200g caster sugar
• 100g egg whites (about 3 whites)
• Good pinch cream of cream of tartar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking-sheet with baking-parchment. Heat the caster sugar in the oven in an ovenproof dish for five minutes, then turn down the oven to 120°C.

In an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until you have stiff peaks. Pour the warm sugar onto the whites in a steady stream and whisk for a further seven minutes, until the mixture is very thick and glossy.

Scoop large spoonfuls on to the sheet to make four rounds – four big ones – and make swirls in the top. Flatten a little - I think they look better if they’re not too peaky in the middle.

Bake in the oven for about 1½ hours. They are ready when they have a matte finish and, when pushed, move easily on the paper. Remove from the oven but leave to cool on the baking sheet, then carefully peel each meringue off the paper (they’ll be quite fragile).

To prepare the fruit hull the strawberries. Halve any that are medium sized (this dish doesn’t look good with those strawberries that are the size of boulders). If you have red currants then leave them on the stalk. It does mean eaters have to remove them but it looks so much better for serving.

Beat the mascarpone with a wooden spoon – it needs to be broken down as it’s fairly stiff at first – then stir in the crème fraiche. Add the lemon curd but don’t mix it completely. You should still be able to see streaks of curd in the cream.

Serve the meringues in big soup plates or large dessert plates– they look lovely like this - with a dollop of lemon curd cream on the side. Arrange the fruit on top of the cream and serve.

For more delicious pudding ideas, see our dessert recipes.